Schuetzenfests – single shot rifle competitions – were crowd pleasers in the U.S. in the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century.

The contests grew in popularity following the Civil War[2] and were introduced to this country by immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. There were schuetzen sharpshooter parks throughout the U.S.

The contests often drew hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators. The larger competitions awarded cash, silver and diamonds as prizes.

Schuetzen competitions were also popular in Colorado.

In the late 1800s Coors offered a silver cup as a trophy for the scheutzen teams in the region. If a team won three consecutive times, the cup could be kept permanently.

This never happened. The cup mostly rotated between the Denver Rifle Club and the Central City Rifle Club.

Because of anti-German sentiment at the approach of World War I, the enthusiasm for schuetzen shooting subsided. It was during this time that the Coors Cup went missing.

Modern schuetzen competitions have been reintroduced and the contests now include pistols. In 1982, Coors began sponsoring an annual International Schutzenfest, which is now under the leadership of the International Single Shot Association[3] (ISSA).